Rise Up, O Men of God

The world cries for men who are strong, strong in conviction, strong to lead, to stand, to suffer.  I pray you will be that kind of man, glad that God made you a man, glad to shoulder the burden of manliness in a time when to do so will often bring contempt.  

Elisabeth Elliot

Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of kings. 

Rise up, O men of God!
   His kingdom tarries long;
   Bring in the day of brotherhood,
   And end the night of wrong.

   Rise up, O men of God!
   The Church for you doth wait,
   Her strength unequal to her task;
   Rise up and make her great. 

   Lift high the cross of Christ;
   Tread where His feet have trod;
   As brothers of the Son of man,
   Rise up, O men of God! 
    Author:  William Pierson Merrill

Woman's Mission

The Lord God said, 
"It is not good for the man to be alone.  
I will make a helper suitable for him."
Genesis 2:18

Woman's mission is to be the suitable help-mate of that man, 
to whom she has given herself as the companion of his pilgrimage 
upon earth.

She is, in wedded life, to be his constant companion,
in whose companionship he is to find one, 
who meets him hand to hand, 
eye to eye, 
lip to lip, 
and heart to heart-
to whom he can unburden the secrets of a heart pressed down with care, or wrung with anguish;
whose presence shall be to him above all other friendship;
whose voice shall be his sweetest music;
whose smiles his brightest sunshine;
from whom he shall go forth with regret, 
and to whose company he shall return with willing feet,
when the toils of the day are over;
who shall walk near his loving heart,
and feel the throbbing of affection as her arm leans on his,
and presses on his side.

In his hours of private companionship,
he shall tell her all the secrets of his heart;
find in her all the capabilities, 
and all the promptings, 
of the most tender and endeared fellowship;
and in her gentle smiles, and unrestrained speech,
enjoy all to be expected in one who was given
by God to be his companion and friend.

That companionship which woman was designed to afford
to man, must of course be included the sympathetic offices of the comforter.  It is hers, in their hours of retirement, 
to console and cheer him; 
when he is injured or insulted, to heal the wounds of his troubled spirit; when burdened by care, to lighten his load by sharing it;
when groaning with anguish, to calm by her peace-speaking words the tumult of his heart; and act, in all his sorrows, 
the part of a ministering angel.

The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a helper suitable for him."  Genesis 2:18
J. A. James

Photo: This picture was taken in the early summer days of our dating relationship.  I cherish this photo, because it captures our first love of being together, after coming to realize we were eager to build upon the foundation God gave us from our earlier days of  family friendship and pen-paling while we were each away a different schools.  Look what God has wrought!  Sweet memories.  

Mark My Heart

❤️ Happy Birthday, our MUCH loved firstborn!
It's hard to speak of that love w/out welling up in gratitude
to the LORD for His mercy and grace granted to our lives for the gift you are,
and have always been!!

I am soo very honored and blessed to be your "Mama".
Thank you for loving me!  I am grateful!
I pray your day is filled with all that makes you HAPPY,
filled to overflowing for recounting God's mercy and blessings!!
❤️ I love you!
Thank you for leaving your mark on me!!

I have few pictures of my pregnancy with Mark Stephen.
I wish I had been willing to capture more of that happy season!

This was taken of me as I opened a gift my mom re-gifted me, a sweater set made and given to her by a dear friend, Mrs. Kitty, who shared my mom’s life when she was stationed away from home.  I wore this pink set as a baby.
There were other photos taken at this shower, but for some reason, they are not accessible.  I'm guessing I took a picture of the hard copy, but not the others. 

We didn’t know we were having a boy or a girl, but Mom gave me this set to stir my excitement for the possibility of us having a girl. 

We had a boy!!

And ohhh the JOY, even if he couldn’t/wouldn’t wear a pink sweater, cap, and booties.

We were OVER joyed upon his arrival, and what makes this post so moving for me, is that I still feel the same delight of his presence when we’re together, 28 years later.

Tomorrow we will gather, and I can hardly wait to be together again...
I cherish every memory of you.
Happy Birthday, Cherished Son!

28 years later, you are anticipating the fall birth of your precious firstborn.
I know this is an exciting season for you, and I trust you, too, have begun marking the mercies God has granted.  May your heart and life continue to be filled and spilled over by all that He gives in love and sustains by His mercy and grace.

These Great Things

What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son
but gave him up for us all, 
how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Romans 8:31-32

Hymn: These Great Things

How can it be, this truth divine,

Declared by God above

That all things by His grand design

Work good for us by love.  

Called by our Lord in purposed ends

No tragedy shall win

No curse for those He calls His friends

He saved us from our sins. 

Refrain:

What shall we say to these great things?

Of mystery sublime

That if He is for us we can sing

Now and for all time.  

Foreknown by Him with 

Hearts made new

To His Son we conform

No pow'r on earth can this undo

For those He's made reborn. 

Refrain

First He did choose, and called He then

To surely justify

For those of the faith beyond our ken

He soon will glorify

Refrain

Words: RC Sproul

Music:  Jeff Lippencott

REST IN THEE WHO ART ALL LOVE

LOVE-REST IN GOD

MY DEAR LORD

I depend wholly upon thee, 
wean me from all other dependences. 
Thou art my all, thou dost overrule all 
and delight in me.
Thou art the foundation of goodness,
how can I distrust thee?
how be anxious about what happens to me?
In the light of thy preciousness
the world and all its enjoyments are infinitely poor:
I value the favour of men no more than pebbles.
Amid the blessings I receive from thee
may I never lose the heart of a stranger.
May I love thee, my Benefactor, in all my benefits,
not forgetting that my greatest danger 
arises from my advantages. 
Produce in me self-despair that will make Jesus precious to me,
delightful in all his offices,
pleasurable in all his ways,
and may I love his commands 
as well as his promises.
Help me to discern between true and false love,
the one consisting of supreme love to thee,
the other not,
the former uniting thy glory and man's happiness
that they may become one common interest,
the latter disjointing and separating them both,
seeking the latter with neglect of the former.
Teach me that genuine love is different in kind 
from that wrought by rational arguments
or the motive of self-interest,
that such love is a pleasing passion affording
joy to the mind where it is.
Grant me grace to distinguish
between the genuine and the false,
and to rest in thee who art all love.  
The Valley of Vision
Puritan Prayers and Devotions

Photo: I still have the "Love note" given to me from Mark that Saint Valentine's Day of 1986.  This note confirmed in my heart and mind the genuine love Mark had for me because of Christ.  I am thankful he persevered! I pray the LORD will always help us to recognize and endure the disjointings and separations of the enemy's effort to discourage us from knowing HIM, even still, after all these years.